Carbon Accounting in Construction Engineering: Methodology and Applications

Yuechen Wu, Chaofeng Zhang, Yanzhao Liu, Wenxuan Deng, Sanpo Jike and Fushen Liu ()
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Yuechen Wu: Research Center of Coastal and Urban Geotechnical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Chaofeng Zhang: Zhejiang University-Zhejiang Communications Construction Collaborative Innovation Joint Research Center, Hangzhou 310058, China
Yanzhao Liu: Zhejiang University-Zhejiang Communications Construction Collaborative Innovation Joint Research Center, Hangzhou 310058, China
Wenxuan Deng: Research Center of Coastal and Urban Geotechnical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Sanpo Jike: Research Center of Coastal and Urban Geotechnical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Fushen Liu: Research Center of Coastal and Urban Geotechnical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-38

Abstract: In the context of global carbon peak and carbon neutrality, this work proposes a carbon accounting method for construction project based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) and construction cost quota. By incorporating national standards, relevant databases and publications, three major global carbon accounting databases—ICE, EU-EFDB, and IPCC-EFDB—were expanded to enable each database to independently perform full life-cycle carbon accounting for specific construction projects in China. The method is capable of flexibly selecting different databases and quantifying the carbon emissions of construction projects, by directly importing bill of quantities. Finally, a web-based carbon accounting tool was developed, and three databases were used to conduct full life-cycle carbon accounting on real-world construction projects, to verify the feasibility of the proposed method and compare the carbon accounting results across different databases. Our study showed that, although there were discrepancies in carbon emission estimation across different stages and processes for the construction projects, the proportions of carbon emissions at each stage and process were relatively consistent.

Keywords: life-cycle assessment (LCA); carbon accounting; construction cost quota; carbon emission factor database; construction-stage carbon accounting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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